Echo
by Just another page
Summary: When Max's younger sister Maya died, she was left to pick up the pieces. But when she meet's a guy named Nick, will he help her become herself again? or will Nick just be another problem in Max's story.. Summary stucks, I apologize. Lots of Fax later on :] Rated T for some swearing and just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my first fanfiction story, and I'm really sorry if it's terrible but I hope you guys like it :)**

**I dont own Maximum Ride.**

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There are memories that stick with us forever, that you can't get rid of, even if you want too. It just comes flooding into your mind every time you close your eyes, or words and phrases that resurface those moments. When my sister Maya died, I changed and so did everyone around me. The sound of the hospital beds rolling across the smooth ground, the beeper of her heart monitor going off every second and the sound of Maya's laboured breathing echoing through my mind. I solemnly stick the cigarette in my mouth, but my left hand hovers with the lighter. You might think I wouldn't smoke after my sister dying of cancer and I don't.

_"It's a metaphor, see: you put the killing thing right between your teeth but you don't give it the power to do it's killing."_

You probably heard this quote from the Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and I just wanted to say it's what I follow. Always have and always will..

Back to reality, I notice the busy streets of Manhattan; the honking horns, car slamming, chattering on phones, walking of the dogs and the closing of doors from buildings around me. The park bench feels cool on my partially bare legs so I cross them to keep a bit warmer.

"Aren't you a bit young to smoke?"

Glancing up I see a tall (6'0' approx.), fairly cute looking guy around 16 giving me a questioning look. His black shaggy hair falls in his face, making it harder to see his mysterious eyes.

"Firstly, the last time I checked you weren't my dad. Secondly, I'm not actually smoking, do you see any smoke coming out of my mouth?"

I was expecting him to just nod and walk off but instead he smirks at me, which earns him a death glare.

"Some people can actually make the smoke go out of their nose instead of their mouth, if you didn't know," he counters back.

As I was about to finish off the conversation with some words I wouldn't like to repeat, he sticks out his hand and says "The name's Nick,"

I lean back into the bench, putting the lighter in my jean pocket before shaking his hand.

"Max," I reply quietly.

"Well," Nick rolls up his black leather jacket to reveal a black looking watch before continuing, "It's nice meeting another human who's as witty, sarcastic and as hot as me, but I gotta go." he gives me a wink before walking back in the direction he came, chuckling to himself.

I smirk back at him, but realizes he can't see me. Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I stand up and start my journey home.

As you walk into our house, the first thing you see is the living room on the left hand side (where Maya always used to be watching Doctor Who, playing Skyrim or reading). There's two black leather couches in an "L" shape facing the flat screen T.V, with game controllers scattered around. The room on the right of front hall is the kitchen (Maya loved cooking while I hated it..) with things Max could possibly break.

When I open the door, no one comes to greet me, not even my parents. Taking off my autographed blue converse (signed by the members of Imagine Dragons themselves), I head straight down the small hallway that has everyone's rooms and the bathroom breaking off of it. The smoky grey walls and the black vine drawings in my chamber brings out the electric blue on the bedspread. I walk over to the dark oak bedside table leaned up against the back wall and pull out a silver chained necklace with a "M" on it. I close my eyes and my palm, feeling the coldness of the metal suddenly warming up. Just holding Maya's necklace gives me the strength to let it all out..

Sometimes I can pull off the "I don't give a shit vibe" but when I'm alone in my room I feel vulnerable, tired, and sick (more than I'd like to admit..).

Hello, hello, anybody out there? 'cause I don't hear a sound..

Alone, alone, I don't really know where the world is, but I miss it now..

Opening my eyes, I take some breathers. In and out.. in and out.. "_I will not cry, I will not cry"_ I repeat to myself over and over again. When she died, I suddenly hated feeling what I was becoming. I Maximum Ride, didn't want to be this way.

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**How was it? Should I continue with this story? Is there anything in the story that's bugging you? Please let me know by reviewing! (:**

**Thank you for even reading this story, it means alot.**

**Another thing is that the song ECHO by JASON WALKER is a big part in this story..**

**~ Just another page **


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter two! :]**

**I dont own Maximum Ride.**

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The first thing I hear when I finally awake is the sound of muffled crying from the room beside mine. Groggily swinging my legs over the side of my twin bed, I stand up and yawn. When I finally make my way over to the mirror hanging above my dresser, I don't see Max. The girl looking back has bags under her eyes with smudges of mascara, her brown eyes don't light up like they used too and her smile wasn't the same.

_"We all have human emotions that rob our lives."_

I remember reading that quote from an actress named Jennifer O'Neill, and it stuck with me.

"So I guess I'm just that broken girl, waiting for someone to rescue me?" I laugh bitterly to myself.

Going into my closet, I take out black ripped skinny jeans, a blue t shirt that says Keep Calm and Don't Blink and undergarments before heading to the shower. The warm water is welcoming on my skin, which makes me sigh with pleasure. Somehow water always makes me feel happier and lighter, like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. The sensation always leaves though once I see my parents, but today was different. Picking up the pace, I scurry over to my father and instead of seeing him moping around, he's making breakfast! Actually cooking! I can't help but break out in a full grin, it's gladdening to see a bit of him back. "_Maybe things are starting to turn around" _I think to myself. _Or am I being too optimistic?_

The cold autumn air whips my blonde hair with brown streaks around, making me feel the prickles against my face as it touches. Luckily, the bus stop was at the end of my driveway so it wasn't a bother getting there on time. Shouldering my bag, I glance around looking for the bright yellow bus or my best friend Nudge. To be honest , I'd rather have the vehicle that drove us to the last place anyone ever wanted to be than my bubbly characteristic friend, "Nudge" Monique Chambers. Don't get me wrong, I love that girl to bits, but after Maya, I haven't been the most talkative person around.

"Hey Max! I haven't seen you in awhile, how ya been gurrrrl? My summer was pretty amazing, I mean we got to go to California! Wow, what a trip. We even went to Death Valley, it was pretty hot there so I drank like twenty-five bottles of water.. Speaking of hot, I saw this pretty adorbs surfer, his name was -" Nudge pauses for a second, giving me a chance to sigh, "Zachary! That was his name, I even got his phone number, speaking of phones, how come you never answered any of your texts or calls?" she ends by giving me those Bambi eyes.

"Nudge.." I start, "You and Maya are the only people I actually ever opened up to and loved. Now one of them is gone and I just needed sometime to adjust,"

Nudge gives me a reassuring smile and causally throws her right arm around my shoulders. Normally she wouldn't be able to, but with those 4 inch black heels against my converse she could. Since the silence started to bug me, I started up another conversation.

"Nudge, I really like your outfit, where'd you get it from?"

Her jaw drops and looks at me in disbelief. "Maximum Ride, asking about clothes?"

I reply to her by shrugging, "Well the dress is called a Belted Floral Lace from Forever 21. I like how the dress being white goes fantastic with my heels and the brown belt, oh and I added a braid in my hair to make it look better. The bracelets are from.." I start zoning out, thinking about anything else but clothes, until Nudge brings me back reality.

"Maaaax,heeelloo?" she waves her hand over my face.

"What?" I reply, shrinking my head back from her hand.

"The bus is coming!" she chirps, which makes me instantly groan, the first day of school is always the worst.

When the bus finally stops, Nudge boards before I do. _I just gotta seem fine, like nothing's wrong.. I have to act like a normal teenage girl. Can I pull it off? But everyone has their secrets and their downfalls, is there even a normal? _

"Max are you getting on?"

I realized I haven't moved a step from the edge of the curb and I could see faces looking at me through the windows wondering who the hell is slowing them down. _Way to go Max._

Reaching out for the handlebar, I thud my way up the three steps to see the bus driver, Brigid by the looks of her name tag, giving me a sympathetic look. Is it because she knows what happened to Maya? or because of the so called "embarrassment" that I just went through? Shaking my head I make my way over to one of the middle seats and sit with Nudge. Out of my peripheral vision, I notice some eyes staring at me. Nudging Nudge, I cock my head towards the people ever so slightly, she gives me the "I see it too" look, which makes me tense up. The bus finally makes it to our school and I'm the last one to get off. I've been dreading going back to school, it brings back too many memories of Maya.

"Let's go Max," Nudge says. "C'mon, lemme out at least,"

I close my eyes and block out Nudge, letting a memory come through

_"Maya are you sure you still wanna go to school?" I ask her._

_She looks at me and grins, "Max I'm already on the bus, stopping worrying like you always do,"_

_"But it's my job," I jokingly whined, which earned me a playful punch in the arm._

_"You know.." I started, "We could always switch spots for a day, considering we look exactly alike," I winked at her. _

_"Mhm, I'll play the overly protective sister and you can play the sweet dying sister," Maya joked._

_Sighing I replied, "Maya please don't joke like that,"_

"MAXIMUM RIDE!" Nudge screamed, jolting me out of the past.

"Yes?" I replied slowly.

She dragged me off the bus after muttering a few words..

"Welcome to the first day of grade ten, I'm your English teacher.." Mrs Hale droned on.

"Hey you," I hear a voice say from behind me.

Turning around, I raise my left eyebrow in response.

"Stop tapping on the desk with your fingers and stop bouncing your legs, it's getting annoying," he scowled at me.

I shot him a look before facing the proper way again. _I was tapping and bouncing? _I was a bit confused but nothing showed on my face.

"Mrs. Hale, this girl in front of me is making it harder to learn."

This time I give him the death glare, as he withers in his seat.

"Miss. Ride?" the teacher asks me from the front of the room.

"Yes?" I reply.

"If you can answer this question, you're free from detention,"

"Alright," I say, readily.

"Since it's the first day, I will be lenient and give you an easy one, capiche?"

I nod.

"Who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird?"

Everything went silent, the only thing I could hear is my own heart thudding against my chest. Tears pricked the back of my eyes, willing to spill.

_The hospital smell filled my nostrils as I went to visit Maya in her room. She looked worse than I had ever seen her, the brown eyes once filled with life were closed and the heart rate..._

_"Maya," I whispered ever so quietly not wanting to wake her._

_"Maya," I said again, but with a stronger voice, "wake up,"_

_A sob rose in the back of my throat and I couldn't hold it in, for the first time in my life I cried._

_When the nurse came in, I was told she died in the night and that the last thing she ever did was read._

_"Only a stupid book was there to comfort her!" I shouted, tears pouring down my cheeks._

_I picked up the book and threw it across the ground, but I caught a glimpse at the title._

_To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee._

_It was her only friend when she died._

My hearing was gone, until I realized I could only hear my swallow breathing. Glancing up, I saw people were surrounding me, their mouths moved but no sound came out.

Cause my echo, echo is the only voice coming back..

Shadow, shadow is the only friend that I have..

And that's when I ran.

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**Hello, I just wanted to thank NeonEnigma88 and maximumride062000 for reviewing and following my story, you guys made my day, thank you again (:**

**And I really would like to know your opinons on this story, pleae tell me if i should continue or if there's anything thats bugging you in the story or if there is anything I should fix.. I really would love your feedback!**

**Thanks for even reading this.**

**ECHO by JASON WALKER is inspired me to write this story and the song also has alot of meaning in this story..**

**R&R,**

**~Just Another Page **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope you like!**

**Dont own M.R.**

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Branches crack under my feet as I sprint out of the school yard and into the woods. The pounding of the leaves underfoot and the whistle of the wind was the only things to comfort me. But it didn't, I felt as if I couldn't breathe, trapped inside a box just itching to break free. Free from what? Emotions, life, sadness, love, grief... whatever was making me feel this way.

""GAAAAAHHH," I scream, kicking at a rotten log.

"What did that log ever do to you?"

Whipping around, I see the one and only Nick. He was wearing his usual attire, all black.

"Are you stalking me?" I ask, completely ignoring his comment.

"Stop being so cocky and no, it's 'cause I was taking a walk," Nick says as he leans against a tree, his left leg behind his right.

"Aren't to supposed to be at school?"

"I could ask you to the same question Max," he replies, cocking his head a bit.

Rolling my eyes and trying not to punch him, I make my way over to the running stream behind him.

"Have you ever felt like you were drowning, but you actually weren't?" I ask him in a trance, as I watch the small rapids.

"No, but when I was nine, I almost drowned," he replies.

"Who saved you?"

Suddenly I could feel him standing right behind me, his warm breath tickling my neck, but then the heat was gone. Turning my head slightly, I could tell he was looking off in the distance, like he was distracted.

"No idea, the last thing I remembered was that my lungs were burning as if they were going to burst any second from the lack of oxygen, the panic that settled in the pit of my stomach and the fear of death. I awoke on the shore with no one around me, the beach was empty,"

"Your parents?" I wonder aloud.

"Street kid," he snorts, "I knew how to fight by then, pretty smart about money and when it was best to hide from the cops, but wasn't smart about water. I remember I hadn't had a shower in a week so I went to the closest body of water which was a beach. There was a steep drop off and I couldn't swim."

There was so many questions I wanted to ask Nick and so many things I wanted to tell him

"How'd you end up in Manhattan?"

"Curiosity killed that cat," Nick smirks at me, "But the cat has nine lives," I finish off for him.

"You have three lives left then,"

"I'm down with that," I reply, grinning.

"By the age of eleven I found some others, we formed a group called 'The Flock' and before you know it were like family, we _were _family. One night Angel was scouting and happened to be caught. She was adopted and we never heard of her again, until a year after. I was fourteen when all of us were transported to here to live with her,"

Sighing I ask, "Why are you telling me this?"

Suddenly we were face to face and only inches apart, "You've been through loss, pain and sadness, maybe the same way as me and maybe not. Either way we're connected because of that."

"How do you know I've been through that and when did you turn into such a philosopher?" I raise my right eyebrow at him.

"Your eyes give it away and philosophy can turn some girls on, it did with my last girlfriend Lissa," Nick says jokingly.

"How do I know you're not lying to me or that you're actually an assassin out trying to kill me?" I ask.

"Max if I was an assassin you would've been dead a long time ago, and if you don't believe what I just said, ask me a question some other time, about all this."

"Alright I will," I reply.

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything,"

"Mark Twain.."

Something about Nick Martinez stuck with me as I sat in the town's coffee shop. The sun came in through the main window, warming me up. This is where Maya and I would always come after piano lessons every Wednesday, just to relax, do homework and talk.

"Hey Mayabear," I whisper. "I'm sitting at our booth playing hooky like we sometimes did. anyways, I wanted to tell you something.." Smiling to myself, I continue. "After my insane freak out you probably saw in Heaven or wherever you go after death, I ran out into the woods where I saw the park guy. Yeah, the emo looking one.. So he started talking to me and I learned lots about him-"

"Mommy that girl is talking to herself, is she crazy?" I glance up to see a boy no older than seven pointing at me, his mother obviously trying to hush him. She gives me an apologetic look before leaving.

"Am I crazy? Most likely," I mutter to myself.

"Oh hey Max, what are you doing out of school so early? Are you and Maya playing hooky again? It's just the first day it can't be _that _bad," the store owner Finn, grins.

"Just me this time," I say giving him a sad smile.

_"Maya, are you sure about this?"_

"_For the fiftieth time, yes! Both of us have a fairly high average, one day won't kill us,"_

_"My anxiety and stress might though," I comment._

_"You only live once," Maya chirps before taking a seat._

_"Bull crap.."_

_"Bull true," Maya said just as the waiter appeared._

_"Hello I'm Finn, how may I help you two?"_

"Stop.." I mutter, "stop.."

Shaking my head violently, I try to block out the memories, but they keep coming back. One after another, swarming inside my mind, likes bee's with their honey. My breath becomes shallow again, I feel a strong arm wrapping around me, trying to stop the shaking. The voice is trying to soothe me, but it does nothing.. Drowning in my own memories, I stop trying to block them and let them flow.

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**Heeello, so I wrote this chapter last night/ early in the morning (finished around 3 AM) and I want to know what you think. Am i being too dramatic? Please let me know by commenting! (:**

**Thanks to .9 for following my story and to NeonEnigma88 for reviewing (:**

**I really really would love some feedback on the story, so please dont be shy!**

**ECHO by JASON WALKER is an important song in this story..**

**Anyways,**

**can't wait to hear from you guys :***

**-Just another page **


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